Northern Ireland

A mole uncovered

Sinn Fein's penetration raises questions

A WEEK on from the dropping of charges—on public interest grounds—against three Sinn Fein men accused of being at the heart of an IRA spying operation in Stormont, the real reason became clear. One of the three, Denis Donaldson, tipped off by his Special Branch handlers that his secret was no longer safe, revealed at a press conference that he had been a British agent for more than 20 years.

It is not clear exactly what role Mr Donaldson played in either the so-called Stormont spy-ring itself or its unmasking. But the affair has shaken the republican hierarchy—even the super-cool Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Fein, appeared rattled—and raised new questions about the televised police raid on Stormont in October 2002 that led to the power-sharing assembly's suspension.

For Sinn Feiners it is the stuff of their most paranoid imaginings to discover that one of the party's most effective apparatchiks, a close friend in jail of the hunger-strike icon Bobby Sands and who travelled all over the world on republican business, was working for the British. Rumours persist of a British mole who is even higher up than Mr Donaldson.

For the British there is the potential for embarrassment too. Few doubt that Sinn Fein was up to no good in Stormont—a search of Mr Donaldson's home allegedly turned up more than 1,000 photo-copied documents including names and addresses of police and prison officers.

But inevitably, the timing of the raid now looks even more like an attempt to help David Trimble, the embattled former Ulster Unionist leader. Mr Trimble, Northern Ireland's chief executive, was being politically destroyed by IRA foot-dragging over disarmament. Against that, MI5 is said to have opposed the entrapment operation that led to the raid.

For all the excitement over Mr Donaldson, there are signs that things in Northern Ireland have changed for the better. The first political event of the New Year is meant to be an official report giving the IRA credit for six months clear of all criminality. That still seems possible. Last Christmas, the IRA carried out a £26m bank robbery and Robert McCartney was murdered by IRA thugs outside a city bar.

Then there is the fate of Mr Donaldson himself. Not long ago, he would by now have been found trussed and hooded with a bullet through his head. He is still alive.